1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interactive information distribution system such as a video-on-demand (VOD) system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing an interactive menu structure, i.e., an on-screen program guide, for such an interactive information distribution system.
2. Description of the Background Art
Recent advances in digital signal processing techniques, and in particular, improvements in digital compression techniques, have led to a plethora of proposals for providing new digital services to a customer's home via existing telephone and coaxial cable networks. For example, it has been proposed to provide hundreds of cable television channels to subscribers by compressing digital data, digital video, transmitting compressed digital video over conventional coaxial cable television channels, and then decompressing the video in the subscriber's set top terminal. Another proposed application for this technology is a video-on-demand system in which a subscriber communicates directly with a video service provider via telephone lines to request a video program from a video library and the requested video program is routed to the subscriber's home via telephone lines or via coaxial cable television cables for immediate viewing. Other proposed video-on-demand systems use a frequency multiplexing technique to enable control information for a set top terminal to be transmitted through a cable network back to an information server. Such a system permits bi-directional communication over a single network.
In each of these information distribution systems, menus are displayed upon the subscriber's television and using a remote control device, a subscriber selects a desired program for viewing. A program code is then sent from the set top terminal through the communication system back to the service provider. The selected program is then recalled from memory by the service provider equipment and broadcast to the set top terminal that requested that information. Alternatively, the subscriber may telephone the service provider and request certain information that is displayed in a menu upon the subscriber's television or the subscriber's set top terminal or television set may automatically tune, in response to the menu selection, to a broadcast channel to receive information transmitted on that channel. In any event, the currently available systems generally do not provide an interactive menu structure through which to select programming. Usually the menus are rudimentary text listings of available programs. By scrolling through the lists of programs using a remote control device the user selects desired programming. These text-based menus do not contain any graphics, video, or other material that would provide an entertaining interactive session. Two such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,276 issued Oct. 18, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,262 issued Dec. 19, 1995.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for providing an improved interactive menu structure for an interactive information distribution system.